Europe

Europe is the sixth smallest continent but its impact on world history is so large it is impossible to imagine how much of the world would be without the influence of Europeans. Because of their early adoption of technology and science, they managed to take over the world. Once they had taken this control, they exported their culture. Now the world speaks European languages, rules itself with European styles of government, often worships Christianity, and even dresses in European styles of dress. European countries are at the same time very successful in taking care of their people and faced with new challenges because of that success.

Physical GeographyEurope consists of many peninsulas with a couple of large islands off the main coast. Mountain ranges are found in Southern Europe, while the North European Plain dominates the Northern part of continental Europe. Above the Baltic Sea, the Scandinavian peninsula juts down. The Atlantic ocean, Mediterranean Sea, the Arctic Ocean and the Ural Mountains are the natural boundaries of Europe. Natural ResourcesThe most important renewable resource in Europe is the climate. Because warm ocean currents and winds bathe the continent from the southwest, Europe is much warmer than most other places that lay at such a high latitude. These winds also pick up much moisture, then falls on the continent, which means that Europe is very mild and wet. As a result, farmers in Europe are able to grow a lot of food. The continent’s many river networks provide hydroelectric power and easy transportation. In the north, the North Sea provides petroleum products to the countries nearby. These countries—the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden—are industrialized and developed which means they really need gas and oil for much of their daily lives and economic activity. Since petroleum is a nonrenewable and increasingly scarce resource, they are able to use any extra, or surplus, to sell. This helps their economies. Europe has many minerals and fossil fuels. Mines allow people to take things from the earth and use them. Iron and coal deposits in Central Europe allowed people to combine these materials into steel, a very important metal that countries that industrialize need for buildings, weapons, and machines. ClimateClimate describes a place’s usual weather over a long period of time. The way climate is described is through PVT (this is Ms. Fox’s term). P stands for precipitation (how much water), V stands for vegetation (what kind of and how many plants), and T stands for temperature (how hot or cold). You should become familiar with the world’s climates. Much of Western Europe is Marine West Coast (MWC) climate. MWC receives a large amount of rain and it stays mild all year. This means it can grow great amounts of vegetation. Eastern Europe is mostly Humid Continental (HC). The temperature in Eastern Europe can go from fairly warm in the summer to really cold in the winter. Eastern Europe still receives a good amount of rain so plants grow well there. Northern Europe is Subarctic (SA) which means it goes from fairly cool in the summer to very cold in the long, partly sunless winter. There is enough water and warmth to grow huge forests of trees which are an important resource for the Scandinavian countries. Southern Europe has a Mediterranean climate (MED) which means it is fairly dry. It has cool winters and hot summers. Southern European farmers grow a lot of cereal grains (wheat, corn, oats) and raise livestock, both of which require less water than the vegetables and fruits grown in the rest of Europe. PopulationThe population in the European continent is almost 750 million. Although it is an excellent region for farming, much of the population is packed into densely populated urban areas. There are huge megacities (where over 10 million people live) such as Berlin, London and Paris. There are an incredible number of ethnicities that share the continent. Many countries are named in some way for their major ethnic group (France-Franks, Croatia-Croats, Czech Republic-Czechs, Hungary-Hungarians, Sweden-Swedes), In addition to the European ethnic groups, large numbers of other ethnic groups are emigrating to Europe. 25% of Switzerland’s population is non-European. European countries are all developed or close to it. Most places have high literacy rates, life expectancies, GDPs and low infant mortality rates. The population of many European countries is older than the rest of the world because of low or negative growth rates which you have already read about. HistoryIt is impossible to do a good job summarizing European history in a few short paragraphs. I am not going to try. We will cover it with another article named “European History 101”. EconomyMost European countries are mixed market. They offer many benefits to their citizens but they also have high taxes and many rules for businesses to follow. Because they are among the most developed and industrialized countries in the world, they have the wealth to create comfortable lives for most of their citizens. TradeEurope, more than most countries, has depended on trade. The rivers of continental Europe were long ago used to take goods from one place to another. Later, the power source for early machines was water (there was no electricity). The water would be boiled and this would create steam. The steam expanded, which create pressure, and this is what would make early machines work. So these rivers, which already had urban areas on them because of trade, became source of power for many industries. So, many industries are located. This is especially true of the Rhine and Danube rivers. Finally, the fact that many Europeans countries had ships meant that they were willing to explore the world in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Eventually, Europeans developed a need to trade outside of Europe. The entire discovery and colonization of North and South America was because of Europeans trying to find an easier way to trade for spices. The United Kingdom led the world’s largest empire because of their need for trade. The U.K. is an island but they were also the first nation to industrialize. Industrialization requires certain resources like iron, coal, petroleum. Islands, no matter how big, usually lack some of the materials needed to build and run the machines. Industrialization also creates surplus products that need to be sold (remember, cheaper, easier, better, faster also means MORE stuff). So the United Kingdom needed to trade. They needed natural resources while they needed to sell their extra industrial products. Most of the time, European countries provided the U.K. with trading partners. But there were times when the U.K. did not trade that much with the rest of Europe because of conflicts and war. They also began thinking that having a big empire overseas would allow them to be stronger and more powerful than the rest of the countries in Europe. People in the United Kingdom also figured out that places closer to the Equator could offer goods and resources that were not grown in Europe. Because of these reasons, the United Kingdom created the most powerful navy in the world and used it to take over so many other places that people used to say “The sun never sets on the British Empire.” Their control of places like India, Canada, Australia, and much of Africa is why English is so widely spoken, why so many flags use part of the British flag, and why parts of British culture can be found all over the world. The European UnionWorld War 2 led to end of the British Empire. World War 2 weakened the United Kingdom and the places they controlled broke away and gained independence. The countries of Europe figured out quickly after World War 2 that they were going to have to do something about their economies. They were faced with competing with the two very large, very successful economies of the United States and the Soviet Union. They knew that individually they could never compete. It would be like a very good fifth grade basketball player trying to defeat Kobe Bryant one on one. So they decided they should cooperate on economic matters. This began in the steel industries of France and Germany in 1947 and has been growing, as the European Union, ever since. The European Union is an agreement between many (not all) European countries to try to combine their economies into one big one. Some of the ways they do this is by trading without tariffs, letting working move freely within the Union, and having the same currency, the Euro. The thinking has been that they can plan their economies better and reduce competition. This means their economies will be more efficient. Places that are poor in the European Union are treated to special deals to help them become wealthier. Richer countries contribute more. This worked great for a long time. Because of their cooperation on economic matters, individual countries became more comfortable cooperating on other issues that, in the past, might have caused disagreements, conflicts, and wars. Many people think that because their economies are combined, they will be less likely to go to war with each other. In 2008, however, there was a world-wide recession. Many European countries (like Spain, Italy, and Greece) had been very irresponsible with their money and borrowed more than they could easily repay without thinking too much about the future. Other countries (like Germany and France) were responsible and worked hard to be responsible with their money. Now, because they belong to one economy, the more responsible countries have to pay to help the irresponsible countries because if they don’t it will hurt their own part of the economy. The responsible countries are mad about having to pay for debts that are not theirs. The irresponsible countries are mad because they have to give up a lot of benefits they are used to and their taxes are being greatly increased at a time when many people are out of work. CultureEuropeans have long been close followers of Christianity. The leader of Catholicism, the Pope, resides in Vatican City in Italy and has since Roman times. For hundreds of years, people of Europe were all Catholic. In the 1500s, new churches came about in the Protestant Reformation. Some Europeans began following these other denominations. This caused great conflict for a long time and continues to affect some people. In Ireland, Protestants and Catholics continues to conflict with each other. In much of Europe, many people continue to follow some form of Christianity although a large number do not really follow any religion. Islam is becoming more important in Europe because non-European immigrants have brought it with them. Each European country certainly has its own unique government but they can be categorized. For a long time, most of Europe was controlled by monarchs. Until the late 1700s, it would be very unusual for a country to not have a king or queen. Then, in 1789, the French Revolution happened and the French killed their king. They put in its place a democracy. Over the next couple of hundred years, most of the countries of Europe adopted the form of government known as parliamentary democracy. So, most Europeans countries are democracies. Some countries wanted to keep their tradition of having a monarch so they kept their kings and queens but now they have only symbolic power. That is how it works in the United Kingdom. The Queen and the royal family are important symbols for many in Great Britain. Europeans are well known for their centuries old contribution to culture. The art of the Renaissance, the music of Beethoven and Mozart and the Beatles, the writing of Shakespeare all greatly influenced people all over the world. Today, the Irish band, u2, with its lead singer Bono, continues this tradition of historic contribution to culture.Because of the incredible number of ethnicities in Europe there are also an incredible number of languages. Many in Europe learn multiple languages which makes it easier to communicate with people from all over the continent. EnvironmentEuropeans have long adapted their environment to fit their needs. In the Netherlands, people figured out how to build dikes (walls that hold back water) to keep the ocean out. They would then drain the water left behind and create polders, or land reclaimed from the ocean. People today live and work in many miles of land that should be underwater. Some of these human modifications of the environment have had unforeseen consequences. Industrialization has created pollution, acid rain, and even affected the animals that live in Europe. One type of moth completely changed color because the environment turned the environment a different color. Acid rain has killed entire forests. Because there are so many people, there is very little of Europe that is completely natural and free of human influence.

Europe Unit Summary QuestionsIntro and Physical Geo— Why were European countries able to make such a world-wide impact?— What is an example of Europeans having an impact on the rest of the world?— Grab an Atlas or a geography book.— What are 4 peninsulas in Europe?— What are the major islands off the coast of continental Europe?— What is the eastern border of the continent of Europe?Natural Resources— Why is Europe warmer than Canada?— What is hydroelectric power?— STANDARDS ALERT! What does the North Sea provide for nearby European countries? — STANDARDS ALERT! What impact do the resources from the North Sea have for nearby countries?— What does nonrenewable mean?— What does scarce mean?— STANDARDS ALERT! What did the iron and coal deposits allow many European countries to do?Climate— What is the PVT of these climates?— Marine West Coast— Humid Continental— Subarctic— MediterraneanPopulation— Are most Europeans urban or rural?— A developed country has— (low or high) literacy rate— (low or high) infant mortality— (low or high) life expectancy— (low or high) GDP or GNI— (low or high) growth rateEconomy

—STANDARDS ALERT!! What are two reasons why rivers have been important for European economic activity?

—An empire is when one country has control of many other places in the world. The United Kingdom had an empire from the 15th century until right after World War 2.—For what two reasons did the United Kingdom need an overseas empire?—What is a reason why the United Kingdom had to go outside of Europe?—What other countries or places were controlled by the United Kingdom?—How were those places changed because of the British?--

What were European leaders worried about after World War 2?—What did they decide to do about it?—When did the EU start?—How did it start?—What are two examples of economic cooperation?—What is the name of several European countries’ money (currency)?—What do some people think will happen in the future because the EU cooperates on economic decisions?—Recently, what has caused problems in the EU?

Culture— Most people in Europe follow what religion?— Most governments in Europe are what kind?— STANDARDS ALERTS!! Describe the monarchies that remain in some European countries.— What is Europe’s most important cultural contribution for over 2000 years? (Hint: has one letter and one number)— STANDARDS ALERT!! What is a polder?— Draw a diagram showing how a polder works. — What is a negative human impact on the environment in Europe?